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THE QUEEN'S ANSWER 



TO THE 



LETTER FROM THE KING 






HIS PEOPLE. 






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FROM N COBBETT'S REGISTER. 



PHILADELPHIA. 
1821. 



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THE QUEEN'S ANSWER, &c, 



INTRODUCTION. 

No! I cannot, upon reflection, bring myself to use the 
name of her majesty in this way. A pamphlet has been pub- 
lished, entitled " A letter from the king to his people." It 
bears date from " Carlton Palace." It has the King's arms 
at the head of it. It is signed " GEORGE." The writer 
addresses the people as his " subjects." In short, the thing is 
sent forth with all the circumstances calculated to induce us 
to believe, that the King is the real writer; and, then, at the 
close, it is declared, that it is a " literary fiction? put forth 
with the " most loyal intentions." When I first heard of and 
had just seen, this fiction, I conceived the design to give it 
answer in the same form; but, when I came to read the thing, 
I found it so horrible a performance, that I could not bring 
myself to put the design in execution. However, as the pam- 
phlet contains what the enemies of the queen appear to think 
the King's case; and as it purports to be a true history of this 
family quarrel, I think it right to notice all the parts of it, on 
which common sense and common decency can suffer them- 
selves to dwell for a moment; for a great deal of it is so very 
foolish, so glaringly absurd, as well as so foul, as to set all 
commentary at defiance; and indeed, it seems impossible, 



that these parts, at least, can have proceeded from any mind 
in a state of sanity. If the writer had praised the king with- 
out censuring the queen, I should not have said a word upon 
the subject. But, his main object has been to asperse the 
queen, and to compel her to quit the Kingdom. Her majesty 
could not condescend to notice such a performance; but, if 
she had deigned to request any one to do it, I may venture 
to believe, that such person, if acquainted, as I am, with so 
many facts, relating to the matter, would have given to this 
shameful attack on her majesty, the following 

ANSWER. 

Mr. Parasite, 

The first three pages of your letter are wholly unworthy of 
notice. But, in the fourth, you break cover: you enter into 
matter: you speak of the marriage and the almost instant se- 
paration. I must take your own words; for, I fear, in any 
case to make them mine, or to impute them to the king. 

" Debarred thus from active employment, and destined to 
pass my time in royal idleness; surrounded with pleasures at 
every step, and captivated with beauty; it would not be the 
most difficult enigma to solve, how I became thoughtlessly 
extravagant. Notwithstanding I had experienced the gene- 
rosity of my countrymen, when twenty- four years of age; 
yet in nine years after my debts became again the object of 
serious consideration. In the midst of a war then raging, ex- 
pensive beyond all former precedent, and with no glimpse of 
termination; when monarchy throughout Europe was threat- 
ened with annihilation; some powerful and unanswerable 
motive, or some importaat and ostensible good, could alone 
justify the minister of the day, in applying to parliament for 
the payment of the debts of an extravagant prince, for such 
I acknowledge myself to have been. The justification of the 
measure was found to be in my marriage. The nation most 
generously paid my debts, made provision for such marriage, 



and I became an expedient party to the contract. For me 
there was no escapes the interest of my creditors demanded 
such a sacrifice; a sacrifice of which my heart could only ap- 
preciate the extent. But although the match xvas forced, and 
I was left (unlike my subjects) to no voluntary choice, I had 
still a right to expect in a princess of exalted ancestry, and 
one previously adii <:1 to me by relationship, a female of chaste 
person and uncontaminated taste. But the morning which 
dawned upon the consummation of this marriage, witnessed 
its virtual dissolution. Our daughter, the lamented princess 
Charlotte, the child of a fond and admiring nation, was born 
preciselv at the moment prescribed by nature. Of the cau- 
ses which led to this immediate separation, which however 
was for a time most carefully concealed, and concealed, I 
trust, from no ungenerous feeling on my part, it does not be* 
long to me to detail the explanation. But who beside ourselves 
was interested in it? Surely the family of the illustrious fe- 
male in question! Did they complain? Did they remonstrate? 
Did they demand a restitution of conjugal rights between us? 
Did they interfere to conciliate, to palliate, to explain? Never. 
By their silence then xvas 1 justified in requiring at a proper 
moment, a more openly avowed separation. The first wrong 
■was done to me" 

This, mind, I do not regard as the language of the king. 
It is not on his words and sentiments that I am about to 
comment; but, on those of some officious slave, who may 
think, perhaps, that he is doing what will please the king; 
but which, as I shall show, has a direct tendency to destroy 
the remaining reverence for the kingly office, and to imprint 
an everlasting stain on His Majesty's character. 

How can it, with truth, be said, that the king, when young, 
was " debarred from active employment, and destined to pass 
his time in " royal idleness?'''' Surely the same may be said 
with as much truth, of every heir of a Peer: and, then, we 
are in a pretty state indeed, having txvo out of the three 



branches of the legislatures, " destined to idleness, thought- 
lessness, and extravagance" Have " Republicans and Le- 
vellers" asserted any thing equal to this? What, had the 
king, when young, no inducement to study? Was history, 
were the laws, were all the sciences beneath his notice? Could 
there, in this country of arts, manufactures, commerce and 
agriculture, be nothing found to engage the thoughts of a 
young man, destined by laws to be a king? Monstrous! and, 
if the fact were not false, what a satire, what a stain on both 
head and heart of His Majesty! 

But, now we come to the motive to the marriage. The 
king, you say, consented to " the contract" for the sake of 
his creditors. This, you say, was his motive. This demand- 
ed " the sacrifice" This is a horrible libel on the king, and 
especially when published in his name, and dated from his 
Palace. But, what " sacrifice'''' did the interest of the credit- 
ors demand? A sacrifice of -what? I want to know -what 
it was that he sacrificed; for, in the whole history of the 
transactions, I in vain look for any sacrifice on the part of 
the king; and the only victim that I can see is the unfortu- 
nate w ife, and subsequent mother. — Had the king indeed dis- 
liked his bride; and had he, nevertheless, still lived with her 
supporting all the appearance of content in this respect; had 
he subdued his own feelings so far as never to suffer them to 
give offence to the wife; had he done every other thing ne- 
cessary to keep the dislike unknown from the world; then, 
indeed, there would have been a sacrifice on his part, though 
the calling of it a sacrifice might be going too far; for it would 
have been the mere performance of a duty, and a very sa- 
cred duty too. But, what sacrifice could there be, when the 
morning, that dawned on the consummation of the marriage, 
witnessed its virtual dissolution? Could this short space of 
restraint be called a sacrifice? — And that, too, be it observ- 
ed, when the husband himself, according to his own letter 



to the wife, had nothing to allege, except his uncontrollable 
inclinations? 

There was " no escape" you say, for the king. " Escape'''' 
from xvhat? The interest of his creditors demanded the mar- 
riage! Good God! what a declaration to put forth under 
the name of the king! And is this to be tolerated! Is it 
to be published in the king's name, that he actually did mar- 
ry in order to get his Debts paid! Was ever declaration so 
shameful as this? Talk of obligation to creditors, indeed! 
What was this obligation, when compared with the obliga- 
tion, contracted towards the xvife? To creditors the debtor 
was bound as other debtors are. The debt arose out of the 
thingsreceivedontheone side, and delivered on the other side^ 
The creditors had, doubtless, the usual prospect of gain in 
view, and a more than ordinary security for payment. But, 
what was the nature of the obligation towards the wife? 
Why, a most solemn contract to love, to cherish, to honor, to 
obey, to worship with his body, to abide by in sickness and 
in health, to abstain from all others, and to keep her alone y 
as long as the parties both should live. What, compared 
with this, was the obligation to creditors? and, was this obli- 
gation towards the wife to be considered as nothing; as a 
thing to be contracted as a mere " expedient" in order to get 
money from the nation to pay debts with! Really, to state this, 
and to state it in the king's name too; to put these words in- 
to the king's mouth; to make them drop from his pen, and to 
cause it, or endeavour to cause it, to be believed, that the 
king is the real author of such sentiments; that is something 
too monstrous to be credited, if we had not the fact before 
our eyes. 

In another part of the Letter, the king is made to speak thus 
to his people, on the subject of leaving the ^iieeti's name out 
of the Liturgy, and we shall see how it squares with the fore- 
going. " When the powers of my regency merged in the suc- 
cession of the throne, one of the first duties devolving upon 



me as a head of the Church, was " to settle according to the 
Act of Uniformity, such parts of the Liturgy as were affect- 
ed by the decease of my venerable Father the King of bless- 
ed memory. How lightly have too many of my subjects 
thought of the feelings by which their sovereign must have 
been influenced upon so solemn an occasion! How inconsi- 
derately have too many of my subjects viewed this vital act 
of religion as a mere matter of form, requiring only a dash 
of the pen! How narrowly have too many of my subjects 
confined their sense of this form, within the bounds of cus- 
tom and precedent! How blindly have too many of my sub- 
jects viewed this act of devotional formularity. And how 
completely have too many of my subjects separated the act 
to be done, from him upon whom fell the most painful duty 
of its performance! Behold then, your Sovereign, in the pre- 
sence of that God to whom all hearts are open: required by the 
first servant of our holy national Church, to sanction as head of 
that Church, a formulary, in which the thousands and tens of 
thousands, and millions of his subjects were to address their 
prayers and praises, and supplications to the King of 
Kings" 

Now, compare this with what the Parasite has said about 
the marriage of expediency; the marriage to get money to pay 
debts; compare the two, and what an odious hypocrite would 
this writer make the king appear to be! He first represents 
his Majesty as having married solely to get money to pay his 
debts; and as having virtually dissolved the marriage in twelve 
hours after the consummation. It represents him as having 
broken the most solemn of all contracts; as having gone to 
the altar, and there in the presence of God, made vows the 
most solemn, and of breaking those vows directly afterwards, 
having made them with a view of instantly breaking them; 
and after this it represents this same man as impressed with 
so deep a sense of the importance of religious forms; and 
so conscientiously alive to religious duties; so filled with 



the fear of doing any thing to offend God; so replete with 
pious and reverential awe in the discharge of his duties, as to 
refuse the insertion of his wife's name in the Liturgy of the 
Church, lest she should afterwards be found not to be a wo- 
man of strictly moral conduct; while he has no scruple what- 
ever to cause his own name to be inserted in that Liturgy! 
The reader will bear in mind, that they are not the words, 
the declaration, of his Majesty, that we have been reading; 
but of some corrupt parasite; and that this picture of the most 
odious hypocrisy, and, indeed, of the most glaring blasphe- 
my, put forth under the king's name and signature, has been 
put forth by one, who abuses the Reformers, and accuses 
them of designs to pull down the Church and Throne! 

But, as relating to the case of her majesty, how important 
would the declarations here brought forward be, if they re- 
ally had come from the King; as this parasite would have us 
believe they do! Here, we are told (and under the king's 
name too,) that the marriage was one of expediency on the 
part of the king; that it was forced; that it was virtually dis- 
solved the next morning-. Now, if we were to believe this; if 
we were, as this writer would have us to believe, that the 
king has said this, what more should we want to account for 
the long train of persecutions against her majesty? What 
enemy of the king suggested this statement, then? This is a 
real enemy of the king. This is an enemy of the throne, in- 
deed. He brutally says, in another part of his book, that the 
king loathed the queen. If so, what need should we have to 
seek further for a cause for all these accusations against her 
majesty? And, how imperiously should we be called on to 
stand forward in her defence? Here we should see clearly 
the origin of all the tales, all the slanders, all the machina- 
tions, all the conspiracies and all the swearings that have 
filled all the civilized world with disgust and horror. It is 
for the king's friends to disown, and for his law-officers to 
punish, the author, of these intolerably outrageous attacks, 



10 

upon his motives and his character, made under his own name. 
or those friends must not be surprised to find, that unwary 
persons, imposed upon by the boldness of the imposture, give 
credence to the statement, draw the natural conclusions, and 
bestow detestation and abhorrence on him, whom it is fitting 
they should behold with affection and speak of with reverence. 

However, after all, every thing in these declarations, made 
in the king's name, sinks out of sight, when compared with 
the base and blackguard insinuations contained in them against 
her majesty. There is something so vile, so filthy, so beastly, 
so much worse than brutal in that to which I allude, that I 
cannot proceed further to notice it, without begging pardon 
of both king and queen even for attempting to describe the 
infamy of the pretended friend of the former and the avowed 
ssailant of the latter. 

The task must, however, be performed: let us, then, take 
a look at the horrid words: — M Though the match was forced, 
I had still a right to expect a female of chaste person and un- 
contaminated taste ." As to taste, that is a thing wholly un- 
reducible to any standard. But, he proceeds: " but, the 
morning which dawned on the consummation of the marriage 
witnessed its virtual dissolution. Our daughter, the child of a 
fond admiring nation, was born precisely at the moment pre- 
scribed by nature. Of the causes which led to this immediate 
separation, it does not belong to me to detail the explanation." 
And then the king is made to say, " the first wrong was done 
to me." 

Wives look at this! Husbands, even the most unfeeling, 
profligate, base and abandoned, look at this: and say, whether 
even ruffian, in stew begotten and in brothel bred, ever was 
yet found so shamelessly infamous as to deal in insinuations 
like these: and, when you have answered this question, say 
what is due to the men, who have written, printed and pub- 
lished a book, putting these insinuations into the mouth of the 
king, and sending them forth under his royal signature! 



11 

All, the reader will perceive, was discovered between the 
evening- and morning-? It is here clearly insinuated, that the 
king discovered want of chastity; for, it is asserted, and the 
words are marked by italics, that the first xvro?ig- was done 
to him. The remark as to the precise moment of the birth of 
the princess Charlotte, and the calling of her "the child of a 
fond admiring nation,'''' admit of some latitude of interpreta- 
tion; but, coupled with the other parts of the statement, to 
what a sum of infamous calumny does the whole amount; 
and to what horrid ideas would they not give rise in the 
mind of any one who had been imposed upon by the signa~ 
ture and the date of this nefarious publication; which, ob- 
serve, has come forth with the King's arms at the head of it; 
dated at Carlton Palace; and with an imprint, purporting that 
it is published by Turner, the King's Stationer, and sold by 
Sams, bookseller to his royal highness the duke of Tori! The 
audacity of this is beyond every thing ever before supposed 
possible; and yet, it would seem, that^/JW editions have been 
suffered to go abroad with as little interruption as just so 
many Religious Tracts'. 

However, leaving his majesty's character to be on this oc- 
casion, defended by his law officers, let me, begging his ma- 
jesty's pardon even for noticing the foul calumny, proceed 
to inquire a little into the possible foundation of that calumny. 

Only a. few hours passed, it is asserted, while the parties 
were alone. The context necessarily implies this, even if the 
assertion had not been made. The discovery could not have 
been made before the consummation of the marriage; for in 
that case, what horrid baseness in the husband must the con- 
summation imply! Could it possibly be made afterwards! 
Could the proof of the first wrong- be discovered after the 
consummation, and yet before the daxvn of day! Surgeons in 
the pursuit of their necessary studies; butchers, in the cut= 
ting up of carcases, find themselves compelled to familiarize 
their minds with the ideas here awakened; but was there 



12 

ever before heard of a man so audacious as to impute such 
brutality of thought and of language to a husband? The hus- 
band himself, if such an one could be found upon earth, must 
raise against him the voice of all woman kind, and must flee 
from society as a monster unfit to be suffered tojlive except 
among brutes. And yet a prince, famed for accomplished 
manners, priding himself on those accomplishments alledged, 
even in this very book, to be uncommonly sensible to the 
power of female charms, and of exquisite ntceness in point of 
taste, is here, by some unknown parasite, aided and abetted 
by the king's stationer and the duke of York's bookseller, ex- 
hibited to the world as speaking of the secrets of the wed- 
ding night, and that too, in a way, that would, if imitated by 
a drunken sailor, in a Portsmouth Point brothel, send the 
beastly blackguard neck and heels into the street. 

To make, however, common sense of this imputation against 
her majesty, the proof of rvant of chastity must have been 
discovered before the wedding night. For that alone is re- 
concileable with the first wrong as here alledged, and the 
immediate separation; unless we go upon the supposition, that 
the king had very sedulously studied as an accoucheur . Yet, 
if the discovery took place before the marriage, where was 
the taste and where the fine sentiment, that could endure the 
marriage ceremony. Oh! that was compelled by justice due 
to the poor creditors! Indeed! And did justice to the credi- 
tors: did their interest produce the consummation too. Never 
was there so scrupulously honest a debtor in the whole world! 
The thing, if not a barefaced blackguard lie, from the begin- 
ning to the end, would certainly be a miracle; which, indeed, 
is the only objection to a great many other of the miracles, 
witnessed by us and our forefathers. But, then, if the con- 
summation did not take place, and even this would appear to 
be insinuated by this parasite; if the consummation did not 
take place, what is the necessary conclusion? why, that the 
princess Charlotte was what I will not even name! — And 



13 

this, I think, caps the climax of infamy in the way of insinu- 
ation; while, if we believed the letter to be what it calls it- 
self, it would, when we recollect the accounts of the king's 
sorrow at the death of the royal lady, hold him forth as the 
most consummate hypocrite that ever disgraced the human 
form. But, our consolation is, that the whole of the story is 
a lie; a complicated lie, invented for the purpose of injuring 
the queen, without, apparently, caring one single straw about 
the injury likely to be done to the king; and yet this abomi- 
nable book is published by the Kings Stationer and sold by 
the dake of York's Bookseller. 

Before I quit this expose de motifs as to the instant virtu- 
al dissolution of the marriage, let m« advert to another part 
of the book, where the king is represented as speaking of her 
majesty as an object of loathing. There is another passage, 
which has made me laugh: " The queen is growing old. We 
are both beyond the hey-day of life." What! the king is not 
growing old, I suppose! Oh no! It is not polite to call him 
old; nor is it loyal; for the king M never dies." But, the 
queen, being only a subject, dies like other folks: of course 
she is growing old; and, as far as I have observed, this is the 
only true remark respecting her, from the beginning to the 
end of the letter, so audaciously inscribed to the king. 

As to her majestv having, however, been an object of 
loathing, to be sure, large allowances are to be made for 
taste. But, who that ever saw her majesty, at any time of 
her life, will not say, that this description is not most gross 
and malicious abuse? I saw the queen, just 20 years ago last 
Thursday week. I was so placed (in the privy chamber, I 
think, they call it,) at St. James 1 palace, as to see all the per- 
sons going to the late queen's drawing room; and, after see- 
ing great numbers pass, I asked who that, "pretty gay little 
lady was," and was told, that it was the princess of Wales. 
I thought her the most beautiful of the whole; and I will not 
attempt to describe my feelings with regard to him, who 



14 

could be voluntarily separated from such a wife. I never 
saw her majesty from that time, 'till I saw her coming up 
Shooter's hill, on the memorable sixth of June last, when I 
recognised in her face all that good-humour and all that vi- 
vacity, which had so much pleased me in 1801. 

As to what is beautiful and what is not, there is no stand- 
ard. All depends upon taste; and our tastes vary with our 
characters, which are as various as are the wild plants of the 
field. — But, I know what my own taste in female beauty is, 
and I will describe it. A woman, five feet two inches high 
(without her shoes) half an inch more or less. Plump, even 
when young, and prone to crum, rather than crust, as she 
increases in years. Small-boned, small hand, and small and 
nimble fe^t, and giving evident proofs, that the fruits of her 
love are not, for want of an ample natural supply, to be ban- 
ished to a hireling breast. Sprightly eyes of I care not what 
colour; features that speak; a voice at once feminine and firm; 
a laugh that banishes melancholy from my abode; a temper 
that sets disguise at defiance; a will, that, by its ripplings, 
prevents life from becoming a stagnant pool; a heart that 
shows its tenderness, not in sighs and whines, but in exces- 
sive fondness for children and in active boldness at the bed- 
side of the yellow fever or the plague; and, if I cannot enjoy 
that heart I am unworthy to enjoy its possessor. 

That this is my taste I have given the best possible proof; 
and, it is well known, that her majesty might have sitten for 
the picture. I had, on Monday, the opportunity of seeing her 
majesty, from a distance of about four yards, for a whole 
hour, or more; and independent of her station and the inter- 
esting circumstances connected with the occasion that brought 
me, among so many others, into her presence, saw in her a 
beautiful woman. Not a doll; not an immovable thing, made 
of wax, with glass eyes stuck on its face. But a living being; 
a being with features that tell what is passing in the heart. 
No affectation about her; all is goodness, real graciousness; 



15 

and, still, all is dignity; every thing to inspire affection and 
to rivet attachment. And, when one reflects on all she has 
undergone, on all her sufferings, all her dangers, and on her 
fortitude and on her bravery, is it possible to refrain from 
exerting in her service whatever we possess of talent or of 
strength? — No man of unperverted mind can now behold 
the queen without feeling eager to serve her and proud to 
yield her respect and obedience. 

And yet this Parasite has the audacity to tell the People, 
and under the King's name, too, that this royal lady, is an 
object of loathing! However, this is no more than a repeti- 
tion of one of the blackguard assertions, made so incessantly 
at the West End of London, for many years, previous to her 
Majestj^'s arrival. I heard, years ago, of a book kept in a 
certain house, where people might go and read the evidence 
given against her, by the perjured wretches in 1806; but, 
where they were not shown any of the statements in her de- 
fence. There has been a perfect system for calumniating the 
Queen; and, had not " the book''' been published in 1813, it 
seems impossible for her to have been preserved. 

Having now done with what may be called the brutal part 
of this performance, I shall proceed to such of the rest as 
are at all worthy of notice. The writer attempts to justify 
the proceedings of 1806, upon the ground of numerous ru- 
mors; but, the worst of it is, that the Tribunal to try her con- 
duct sat and decided without ever hearing her in her defence. 

The main, charge, lurking behind is, that, in 1813, the 
Queen became a politician; that she made the domestic dis- 
pute a question of factious politics; and that, therefore, she 
then forfeited all claim to any species of indulgence; though 
bv the by, I never heard, that her Majesty ever asked for 
any indulgence. 

This is, however a curious charge; and, as the reader will 
presently see, as unfounded as all the rest. There is a very 
pretty passage that precedes this charge against the Queen, 



16 

and in this passage her alleged political interfering is ascri- 
bed to the '.'higs! It is fitting that both king and queen 
should know the real facts of the case, which I am very cer- 
tain they do not, and which I am also certain, that nobody 
will, or can, state to them, except myself. But, first let us 
hear what this writer in the king's name says on the subject: 
for, here is the apology for not taking the Whigs into power 
in 181 '2, when the Prince became Regent. " The distin- 
guished characters with whom, in my earlier years, I had 
intimately associated, had created in the public mind, a wide- 
ly extended, and readily believed opinion, that when the 
sceptre of my father should descend to me, I should, from 
among those associates, have chosen the members of my admi- 
nistration. During the discussion of the terms of the regency, 
I was careful to avoid giving any pledge of the line of poli- 
cy I might find it expedient to adopt. A short previous ad- 
ministration, composed of those political friends by whom it 
was conjectured my councils would have been directed, had 
enabled me to form some opinion of their executive talents; 
and tfotwithstanding, an overture was made by me to them, 
to propose an administration. But when I found the condi- 
tions required would have reduced me to a mere political au- 
tomaton, of which they were to possess the key; that not con- 
tent with forming the administration, they required also, that 
I should be surrounded in my household by their adherents, 
and left to no choice in the appointment of my own attend- 
ants; when with this, I compared the candour and the unequi- 
vocal absence of all personal feeling, with which the bill crea- 
ting the Regency was carried by the then ministry, and 
above all, the frank, loyal and respectfd regret which was 
shewn to the calamity of my revered Parent; and the so im- 
mediate provision made for the resumption by him of the regal 
dignity, that should it have pleased Providence so to have 
restored him; my Royal Father would have awakened as if 
from a dream, and have found himself unreminded of his 



17 

affliction when to this I added the important consideration, 
thai the flame of freedom rvas beginning to glimmer in Spain, 
that the then administration were prepared to take advantage 
of every circumstance favorable to the destruction of the 
military Tyrant of Europe, and when all these various con- 
siderations were upheld by the weight of personal character 
■which was contained in the then cabinet; I felt sufficiently 
justified in not suffering former prepossessions to stand for 
one moment in the way of newly created duties- I felt that 
an existing experienced executive, was, at such a time, safer 
than a theoretical cabinet. I had also a doubt in my own mind, 
whether, during my Sovereign's life, I ought as Regent, to 
adopt the principles of those who had been violently oppo- 
sed to my Royal Father's measures, or pursue a line of poli- 
cy unchanged, and such as my king would have continued had 
he remained the active head of the empire. — This was a 
feeling of THE HEART; it was MINE." 

Reader, bear in mind, that it is not the king who says 
this; and therefore, if you can suppress your contempt for 
the writer, you may laugh at it as long as you please. Com- 
pare this wretched stuff with the language of the queen, when 
her majesty puts pen to paper. However, here you have this 
man's reasons for the king's not choosing his servants from, 
amongst his old friends, in 1812. And then, you are told by 
this parasite, that the rejection of these old friends caused 
the matrimonial differences " to be converted into a political 
attack upon the king's authority.'''' Nothing can be more false 
than this. The whigs as a party, never took the part of the 
queen. — Mr. Whitbread did; but the whigs never did. Per- 
ceval and his party had, indeed, taken her part. By so doing 
they had put the whigs out, in 1 807; and if Perceval had 
been put out, in 1812, when the prince became regent, he 
would, without doubt, have brought her case forward again! 
Nobody can' doubt of this; and, therefore, it is not quite im- 
possible, that this, amongst others, might be a reason for the 

6 



18 

king's rejecting his old friends, and for keeping Perceval 
and his people in power; a reason pretty nearly as powerful, 
perhaps, as the " favoring of the cause of freedom in Spain" 
The whigs could not, as they then stood, very well take part 
with the princess. It was under them that the inquiry took 
place in 1806; therefore they, though out, could not well 
meddle with a matter, which if it all came out, made against 
them very much, as they then stood. So that, by keeping in 
Perceval and his men, both parties would naturally remain 
quiet as to the princess. This is what did happen; and what 
a deal, then, has the affair of this lad)' had to do in the great 
concerns of this country, for many years past! 

But, it is very true, that at the epoch here alluded to, the 
affair of the queen did make a great stir, and was fast going 
on to mix itself with politics. It is also true, that that which 
was done at that time laid the foundation of all the popular 
support, that her majesty has now received; and, it is fur- 
ther true, that the prime mover in what was then done was 
not Peter Moore, nor E dward Ellice, nor the heroes Brougham 
and Denman, but that it was myself, which, I am sure, will 
be a piece of news to the king, the queen, the ministry, the 
whigs, and the people. And now I will relate the facts, pre- 
cisely as they took place; and, when, reader you have heard 
them, you will exclaim with some character in Shakspeare, 
" how poor a thing may do a noble office!" And you will 
recollect the mouse in the fable, that let the Hon loose from 
the toils of his hunters. 

In 1807, the result of the investigation began to make some 
noise; and the Morning Post had violently attacked the Doug- 
lasses. Sir John Douglas wrote to me protesting, that all 
the swearings were true; and I, in consequence of that, pub- 
lished some articles bearing on that side, though the whole 
amount of what was known at that time was little more than 
mere rumor. — Perceval came into power; all was hushed up; 



19 

and the public remained in total darkness, until 1812; the 
period above referred to by this parasite. 

In 1811, I had gotten possession of all the material parts 
of "THE BOOK." When, therefore, the Prince became 
Regent, I endeavoured to bring the matter forward, by insist- 
ing on the propriety of the Princess holding her courts, as 
the Prince, her husband was now holding his. — -My motive 
in this was, my conviction of her innocence from what 1 had 
seen in " the Book" and also my opinion, that, if she did not 
hold her courts then, she never would; and the foundation of 
my opinion was this: that, if " the Book'''' lay hidden many 
years from the eyes of the People, if the Princess remained 
silent, 'till the Prince became king, the people would, at 
least, think that there was a something to hide; and that they 
would easily acquiesce in her degradation. Besides, the 
ivitnesses, might all die. The Lords of the Commission might 
die. Not a single copy of " the book" might be left in ex- 
istence; and, there might remain to the Princess no possible 
chance of obtaining even a hearing. 

An opportunity for starting the question offered, when 
addresses to the prince were presented on his being appoint- 
ed Regent. I contended, that addresses ought also to be 
presented to the Princess; and, in the city of London, by a 
worthy Alderman, ahuays her friend, some movements were 
made towards this measure. These were counteracted by 
movements on the part of others, whom it is not necessary 
now to point out; and, thus, no addresses were, at that time 
presented to the Princess? 

In 1813, when all was settled down into tranquillity with 
regard to this affair; when not a word was said about the 
Princess, the thing was again put in motion, and " the hook" 
was forced out in the following manner. 

Mr. Cochrane Johnstone was, at that time, a Member of 
Parliament; and to whom I proposed the measure of bring- 
ing forward a motion in parliament such as should compel an 



20 

6pen and explicit declaration in Parliament, of the innocence 
of the Princess, and of the falsehood of the charges preferred 
against her in 1806. Mr Johnstone, who was a gallant and 
active and zealous and honest politician, caught at any pro- 
position. The nature of the motion was settled between us 
at his house in Alsop's Buildings about twelve o'clock; and, 
in five hours afterwards, he had given notice of his motion 
in the House of Commons! — It was a real pleasure to have 
to act with this gentleman. Always sober; always up early; 
alrvays ready; always decisive and prompt; and never moping 
in despair. Never was a man more calumniated jhan Mr. 
Johnstone has been. 

The motion consisted of two resolutions; and though, cer- 
tainly, they did appear to be wholly uncalled for by any then 
before the public, still they had enough of plausibility in them 
to raise a long debate, his part of which the mover perform- 
ed with admirable dexterity, Mr. Whitbread took the mat- 
ter up: the Douglasses were roughly handled; the Lords 
Commissioners did not escape; and, in short, the subject en- 
gaged the exclusive attention of the public. 

We fwho were in possession of " the book'''' ourselvesj on- 
ly wanted to get that book into the hands of the public, and 
through a channel not our own. Care was taken to work into 
the Resolutions enough to excite uncommon curiosity; and, 
at last, so much was drawn out in the debates, that it was bet- 
ter even for the enemies of the Princess, to publish the whole. 
— Accordingly, out came the book, first from the shop of Mr. 
Jones, I think it was in Newgate street, and, afterwards, from 
every shop in the kingdom. 

This is what I wanted. The PEOPLE were now the 
judges. We, of the press, had now matter whtreon to work 
openly! We had before confined ourselves to suppositions 
and hints. But now we had all the facts and circumstan- 
ces; we had the evidence; we had the Princess' defence in 



21 

her letters to the king; and, we were enabled to maintain her 
cause boldly and effectually. 

This was a most important service rendered to the Prin- 
cess; and I say this without any scruple, because I am sure, 
that I shall never accept of reward, in any shape, or of any 
kind, at her hands. It was a most important service, because 
it made the People her judges; because it established her inno- 
cence; because it excited, in her favor, those feelings, which 
never ceased to exist in the public breast; with which feel- 
ings she was received at Dover; and which feelings height- 
ened by additional wrongs, heaped on her, have now saved 
her from total degradation. 

Let any one suppose the case of a continued suppression 
of " the Book" until this day. The rumors for the last six 
years, added to her unaccountable silence of a preceding 
eight years, would have made a general presumption oj her 
guilt certain. Look at the great argument, in answer to the 
charges of the bill and the swearings of the Italian witnes- . 
ses. What has it been? Why, that heavier charges and 
tougher swearings were brought against her in 1806; and, 
that THEY were all false! This has been the great argu- 
ment with the press, and round every fire-side. But, this ar- 
gument never could have existed, if Mr. Johnstone and my- 
self had not forced out the book. For, be it known, that 1 had 
tried, in 1812, more than one other member of parliament 
to do that which Mr. Cochrane Johnstone did, in 1813. 
They would not stir. — Timidity, laziness, something always 
defeated my project. But, Mr. Johnstone was a man of ac- 
tion, and he feared nobody. 

Let not the friends of the king, therefore, blame the xvhigs 
for this stir in 1813; for they, poor things, were as innocent 
as the child unborn, not only of all act, or part, in the mak- 
ing of the stir, but of all knowledge of the source whence the 
thingsprang. The public applauded Mr. Whitbread, and very 
justly; but, he was, on this occasion, no more than a puppet 



22 

put in motion by us. I enjoyed exceedingly the seeing of the 
big talkers at work like bees in a tar-barrel to extricate them- 
selves from the confusion, into which we had thrown them. 
Let not the poor whigs be blamed for this signal service to 
the queen, for babes at the breast were not more clear of the 
sin than they. 

As to the queen, her majesty has never known, I am very 
sure, the source of the exertions in her favor in 1813. But, 
we had other sch mes which, if they had been adopted, would 
have enabled ber, to a certainty, to hold her court in 1813; 
and which would, of course., have prevented her from going 
abroad, and have spared her, the king, and the nation all that 
has happened in consequence of that unwise and almost in- 
sane step, which the advice of Canning induced her to take. 

"When " the book" had been published, the princess stood 
triumphant. That was the time, therefore, for her to take the 
measures necessary to the full enjoyment of her rights. These 
measures, however, must have come from herself; and to 
submit them fairly and fully to her, she must have been seen 
and spoken to by the person who had the measure to submit. 
Mr. Johnstone endeavoured, but in vain, to obtain an audi- 
ence of her royal highness. He applied, for this purpose, to 
a countess, then upon intimate terms with the princess. A 
great don, who was admitted to her royal highness's presence 
was also applied to. These great personages had, doubtless, 
their own views; and, notwithstanding the reproof given in 
the fable, by the Ox to the Cur, they so contrived the mat- 
ter, that Mr. Johnstone could get no audience; while his par- 
liamentary puppet, Mr. Whitbread, was the Burleigh of the 
princess's cabinet; and while this Burleigh was so managing 
the matter as la-weary and disgust the princess, and to make 
her ready to listen to any advice, that would remove her 
from the sound of the voices of prosing, shilly-shally coun- 
sellors. 



23 

The Princess was herself acquitted; she heard the public 
loud in her behalf, and as loud against her enemies, she saw 
that she was completely triumphant; but still she saw, amidst 
this multitude of words, that nothing was DONE for her; that 
no one even PROPOSED TO DO any thing for her;,and 
that, though innocent and injured, she was still to be degra- 
ded! Was not this enough to fill any body with disgust; and 
what, then, must the effect of it have been upon a person of 
uncommon decision, promptitude and spirit, and that person 
an injured Princess too? 

Had Mr. Johnstone found his way to the Princess, ten 
minutes would have decided the matter. She would have 
had no prosing; no lecturing; no melancholy-engendering 
forebodings. The path would have been clearly marked out 
for her; and all that has happened since convinces one that she 
would have pursued it. It was the path of reason, of honor, 
of true dignity, the path of peace , too, for the Prince as well 
as for herself. But she had fallen not "amongst thieves," in- 
deed; but amongst prosers, amongst lesson-mongers; and ever- 
lasting procrastinators; amongst men, who are always misera- 
ble if they have not something to debate about; and, really, 
whose only fear seems to be, that their debating should cause 
something to be done. 

Thus have I given a true account of the stir in 1813; and 
from it the reader will see, what a poor shuffle it is, on the 
part of this Parasite, to accuse the Whigs of making the king's 
" matrimonial differences a subject of political attack'''' on 
him. The Princess herself knew not the real source of the 
agitation; and she must now laugh at the exposition of this 
adventure of her life. — At any rate, I have here clearly shown, 
that she had no hand in producing the agitations of 1813; 
and, that, therefore, this charge, like all the rest, has its 
foundation in falsehood and malignity. 

The remaining part of the Letter of the Parasite, published 
by the king's stationer, in the king's name (oh, audacity!) is 
so very absurd; it savours so strongly of drunkenness or of 



24 

insanity, that I cannot bring myself to notice it otherwise 
than in general description. It represents the king as persona- 
ting thty tur* historian, and writing this part of the history 
of his own reign! Then it represents him as supposing,^-*?, 
that the Queen will be supported in her claims by the Parlia- 
ment; that her name will be restored to the Liturgy; and 
that she will hold her court. Second, that she will not be 
supported by the Parliament; that a negociationfa la Protocol) 
will be renewed; and that she will go out of the country in 
so silent a manner, that the people will hear nothing of the 
matter 'till she is safely landed in France. In ih? first case, 
revolution, blood, and atheism, are anticipated as the final ef- 
fect. In the second case, are predicted harmony, peace, plen- 
ty, and everlasting prosperity and happiness! 

Was there ever so mad a wretch as this Parasite! To 
comment on such matter would really be like going to Bedlam 
and arguing with the inmates th< re. All that remains, then, 
is to dismiss this at once audacious and stupid and beastly 
performance, with the expression of a hope, that, as this is 
the first, so it will be the last, time, that one will dare thus to 
vilify the Queen under the name of the king; to date his pro- 
ductions from the very Palace of the King; and cause it to be 
published by the Ki.g^s stationer, and sold by the Duke of 
TorlCs bookseller. 

Having the pen in hand, however, I cannot refrain from 
observing shortly on what has passed since I began this pa- 
per, in Parliament, with regard to her Majesty the queen. 
The king has merely called on the Parliament to make a 
pecuniary provision for her Majesty. Unquestionably this 
ought to come from the Civil List Allowance; because that 
allowance contemplates a king and a queen. It is not 
granted to a Bachelor or a widowed King. It is granted, as 
it was to the late king, for the support of him, wife and chil- 
dren. Therefore, and especially at the present time, let us 
hope, that circumstances do, unhappily, prevent the royal 



25 



parties from living together, the separate allowance to her 
Majesty will come from that already settled on the king. 

But besides sufficient pecuniary allowance, there will 
doubtless be something in the way of real property granted 
to her majesty. It appears that she has purchased the lease 
of Marlborough House. This house and its gardens and yard 
belong to the public* The duke of Marlborough rents the 
whole of our stewards for 75l. a year! Yes 751. The lease, 
which was granted in 1785, expires in 15 years time. The 
prince of Cobourg pays, not seventy-five pounds, but three 
thousand, a year, to the duke! So that the public is a pretty 
easy landlord.' However, the queen has bought the lease; the 
prince, her son in law, is her majesty's tenant now; and, there 
can be no doubt, I should think, of his having, at once, agreed 
to give up this convenient place to her majesty. Thus her 
majesty will have a suitable residence in town; and, surely 
one of the manv palaces in the country will be allotted to her 

majesty. 

Besides, the late queen had granted to her for life, the 
manor of Richmond in Surrey, and also the office of steward 
and keeper of the courts of the said manor, and all demesne 
lands and other lands in lease. Now, these have all fallen in 
to the public by the death of the late queen; and, what so 
proper; what so suitable in all respects; what so likely to con- 
ciliate the people, as to grant them, for life, to her present 
majesty? There is no subject on which I would sooner pe- 
tition parliament than this; but, 1 hope, that every step of 
this sort will be rendered wholly unnecessary by the steps 
which his majesty himself appears to be disposed to take, if 
I am to judge from his truly gracious (though not quite 
grammatical) speech to the parliament. 

A palace, a suitable allowance from the civil list, the manor 
of Richmond, and the name in the liturgy seem, now thank 
God, to be all that remain wanting to putting an end for 
ever to this unhappy family dispute, which never ought to 



26 

have been knoxvn to the world, and which it has filled with 
scandalous and disgraceful details. The king comes at last, 
and tells the parliament and the world, that he regards the 
attachment of his people as the best safeguard of this throne; 
and truly says, that he has that attachment. His majesty 
thus rebukes the slanderers of his faithful and dutiful people, 
and in so doing he gives us a pledge of his sincere and ardent 
desire to restore to us all the rights, of which we have been 
deprived, during the last twenty-seven years. That concilia- 
tion, which, with my feeble voice, I have recommended for 
so many years, seems, at last, to be becoming " the order of 
the day." 

As to the " question of the liturgy," I hope it will prove 
no question at all. It is said, that the French used to laugh 
at James II. for his having quarrelled with his subjects for 
the sake of a mass. A quarrel about the liturgy would be a 
great deal more ridiculous. All is now settled but this; and, 
surely, this ought not to stand in the way of a restoration of 
harmony! The ministers are not conjurers, to be sure; but 
they know the worth of their places; and, will they risk them 
for this? They must know that long debates about collects 
and prayers will give a dreadful shock to the hierarchy. 
They must know, that if they persist, a considerable portion 
of the people will quit the church. They must know that they 
must yield at last, or yield their places. And, surely, they will 
then, yield, and keep their places as long as they can. They 
may be forced out by other means; but why force themselves 
out? They would, I think, carry their question on the litur- 
gy axjirst; but they would be beat out of it at last; and then 
out of place at the same time. 

Let me indulge the hope, that before the next number of 
this work will come from the press, all disputes relative to 
the queen will have been put an end to by the act of his ma- 
jesty hi nself; and this will be much more likely to do him 
honor, than books, abusing his royal consort, published un- 

RD -7.6 



27 

der his name, issued by a man calling himself his stationer, 
and sold by another, calling himself the bookseller of the duke 
of Tork. 

WM. COBBETT. 



ANSWER 



TO THE 



KINGS LETTER. 



Published by JOHN CONRAD, No, 121 ChesmtSt, 

A LETTER 



FROM 



THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, TO HIS PEOPLE. 



NEW BOOKS 

FOH SALE BY 

JOHN CONRAD, 

No 121 Chesnut St. 
Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, by Miss Aiken, 2 vols. 
Conversations on the Bible, enlarged edition, 2 vols. Barton's 
poems— No Fiction, 2 vols.— Schoolcraft's narrative— Mr. Ada-i's 
report on Weights and Measures— Malthus on Political Econo- 
my—Examination ofthe Tariffproposedby Mr.Baldwin— Lord By- 
ron's Tragedy— United States Pharmacopea— Narrative of the 
British campaigns at Washington, &c. by a British officer— Mr. 
Dunonceau's oration on the early history of Pennsylvania— 
Chalmer's application of Christianity to the commercial and ordi- 
nary affairs of life. 






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